Violets
by Cassie Bones
Summary: Because of course Jane has no idea what they mean. Late V-Day fic. Rizzles. Rated T for language.


**A/N: This is based off a comic that Maryne (toodrunktofindaurl, Tumblr) drew for Agent Carter. It's not as sad, though; it actually just shares a single element that I previously knew nothing about but now I am endlessly fascinated by it. Especially in regards to one of my favorite f/f ships. Enjoy!**

 **Violets**

Jane hated Valentine's Day.

It was a stupid, made up holiday that forced people to spend fuckloads of money on things that they couldn't afford to please the people who should have loved them anyway. And it shamed single people; people like Jane, herself.

Even when she _wasn't_ single, she hated Valentine's Day. Whatever guy she'd been dating at the time always made a big deal of going out for a fancy dinner where she had to squeeze herself in a dress that she hadn't worn in forever, do her hair up all nice, and wear shoes that pinched her toes, just so that they could conform to this money-hungry holiday and he could believe that he was going to get lucky because he was being 'romantic'.

In Jane's opinion, that wasn't romance. Romance was curling up on the couch together with a giant box of chocolates and watching movies or some kind of TV show they both enjoyed. It was ordering in pizza and eating it in bed while they drank beer and slowly undressed one another. It most certainly was not eating tiny ass meals that wouldn't satisfy her _dog_.

But she'd gone through that at least a handful of times, just to make whatever guy she was dating or sleeping with at the time happy. She even slept with them. That wasn't so bad. Usually.

But today she was blissfully single and she wasn't going to allow any of the pink and red displays she saw on her walk to work get her down. She didn't really care about the fluffy teddy bears or the big hearts or the chocolate – which would go on sale tomorrow, anyway. She just cared about getting to work, solving murders, and having dinner with her best friend, who had heard about something called 'Galentine's Day' for women who didn't have any significant others. Jane had seen all of Parks and Rec, but she was not about to tell Maura that G-Day was for February 13th. It didn't matter, anyway, because she couldn't imagine a better Valentine's Day than spending some quality time with her best friend.

And as annoyed as Jane was that she'd had to park two blocks away from work, due to construction next to the precinct, at least it was a nice day (as far as nice went in February, in Boston) and she was able to ignore the store displays with relative ease.

But not the group of women who sat, bundled up, at a table full of flowers and heat lamps.

"Good morning, ma'am!" one of them called out to her just as Jane was about to pass. "Would you like to make a small donation and receive a free bouquet?"

Despite herself, Jane paused and looked down at the flowers. They were vibrant bluish-purple in color and wrapped in navy blue paper. Each bouquet was smaller than any of the rose bouquets she'd seen walking down the street and if they came free with a 'small donation' then why not?

"What are you raising money for?" Jane asked as she reached into her pocket for her wallet.

"A space for our organization: LesbiHonest," a short-haired blonde woman with a stud in her nose informed her. "We were using the basement of a church, but it's been rented out by support groups that need it more. We're hoping to just rent a studio around here; something small and affordable." Jane nodded and pulled out a twenty, placing it in a jar painted like a rainbow. The blonde smiled brightly at her. "Thank you, officer!" she said, glancing at Jane's waist, where her badge was visible beneath her coat.

Jane gave her a dimpled grin. "No problem," she said. "And it's detective, actually. Detective Rizzoli." She reached out and shook the blonde's hand, as well as the other two women sitting at the table.

"Thank you, _Detective_ Rizzoli," the woman said. "Here are your violets and here's a pamphlet in case you ever want to stop by for a meeting. Currently, we're holding them in Josie's apartment, on Tuesday nights." She motioned to the shortest women in the bunch, whose hair was long and red and braided to the side. "It's a little cramped, but we always welcome new company."

"Thanks," Jane said, accepting the flowers and tucking the pamphlet into her inside pocket. "I'll see if I can come by sometime."

"Please do," the blonde said with a slight twinkle in her eye. "And have a wonderful Valentine's Day!"

Jane gave her another grin and waved as she started back in the direction of the precinct, violets nestled in the crook of her arm. As she walked, she wondered what she was going to do with them. She couldn't give them to her mother; Angela had killed nearly every flower she'd ever gotten within a day of her receiving it. Jane wanted to at least give these ones a fighting chance.

As she entered the precinct, she thought about Maura, and about the plant life that seemed to thrive in her house. Maura at least knew what she was doing; when to water the plants and whatnot. She'd probably be Jane's best bet of keeping these little guys alive.

So instead of pressing the 'Up' button once she reached the elevator, Jane pressed 'Down' to go to the morgue. Kent was bent over their newest body when she walked into the morgue, taking notes and practically pressing his face to the rotting flesh. She didn't disturb him.

Instead, she made a beeline straight for Maura's office, which was slightly open. The woman herself was sitting at her desk, bent over a mountain of paperwork, filling out forms and such. Jane rapped twice on the door to get her attention and the honey blonde looked up, instantly smiling brightly at her.

"Hey!" she greeted. "You ready for Galentine's Day?"

She sounded so excited that Jane couldn't help but grin at her. "Thrilled," she deadpanned. "I've already got my jammies all picked out. And I know which bottle of wine I want you to open."

"Fantastic!" Maura said, removing the reading glasses that were perched on the end of her nose and pushing away from her desk. "I have a few movies picked out and there's even a documentary that I think we'll both enjoy, about the history of police ballistics going back to the—what are those?" Maura had paused, looking down at the flowers in Jane's arms.

Jane shrug and held them up. "Galentine's Day gift," she offered, feeling her face heat up a bit at the look in Maura's eyes. Her friend was blushing, looking at Jane with something unfamiliar in the hazel-brown depths. She looked back down at the violets and her eyes seemed to widen.

"Those…are for me?" she asked, her voice a little breathier for some reason.

Jane glanced down at the bouquet as if she possibly could have mistaken it for something other than the violets she'd purchased not ten minutes prior. "Yeah," she said. "Who else would I give them to? I mean, if you don't like them, then it's fine. I could just—"

"No, I love them," Maura interrupted, a slow smile spreading on her lips as she looked up at Jane. "They're…they're wonderful, Jane. Um," she cleared her throat, "very pretty." She took a few more steps forward, until they were practically toe to toe. Jane handed her the bouquet and Maura pressed them to her chest, craning her neck down a little to press her nose into them. She took a deep inhale, then smiled, dreamily. "Wow," she sighed.

Jane gave her an adoring smile. Maura could be so cute sometimes. _All of the time_ , her brain supplied. "I'm really glad you like them."

Maura looked back up at her with that same dreamy smile. "You are?" she asked, her voice still holding that same breathy quality as before.

"Of course I am, Maur," Jane insisted. "I love it when I – "

Her words were cut off as Maura's hand curled around one of her lapels and tugged. Jane let out a sharp gasp as their lips met and her eyes widened in surprise, even as Maura's remained closed, her lips curved up as she continued to kiss Jane. After a moment, though, Jane seemed to sink into the embrace, her arms wrapping themselves around the shorter woman, pulling her body so close that they nearly crushed the flowers.

When they finally pulled away for air, Maura was smiling up at Jane, nuzzling their noses together, one of her hands still clenched in her lapel, while the other continued to clutch the violets to her body.

"You must really like violets, huh?" Jane joked, her voice raspier than usual.

Maura tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Don't you know what these…" Her eyes widened. "You have no idea what these mean, do you?" Suddenly her face was beet red and she was pulling away.

Panicked, Jane grabbed for her hand, pulling her back. "Maura?" she asked. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Maura frowned. "I've very embarrassed," she murmured. "I thought…oh Jane, I'm so sorry."

"Sorry? For what?" Jane asked.

"For just kissing you like that," Maura sighed. "I shouldn't have just assumed."

"Assumed _what_?"

"That you were attracted to me…like that."

"Okay, I'm even more confused than ever right now. Please start from the beginning."

Maura took a deep breath and looked up at Jane, her face still pink. "Between the 1910's and the 1950's, violets were exchanged between female lovers in order to keep their relationship discreet. They were largely popular in the Lesbian community and likely still are. So when you showed up today—Valentine's Day, no less—with a bouquet of them, I just assumed…" Maura shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Jane."

Jane was silent for a moment, then: "I'm not."

"What?" Maura looked up at her, blinking in confusion. "You're not?"

Jane grinned and shook her head. "Not at all," she said, taking a step towards Maura as she pulled her in by their still tangled fingers. "That was a pretty great kiss." Maura chuckled. "Besides, if it hadn't been for these flowers, I might have never had the guts to tell you how I feel."

The blonde's eyes widened at that and she looked up at Jane. "You feel?" she asked. "I mean, you…?"

Jane nodded. "I didn't even realize it until you kissed me just a few minutes ago," she revealed. "But now I can't even imagine never doing it again." She grinned leaning down slightly. "In fact, it's more work to keep me from doing it again than I'd like to admit."

Maura giggled, leaning up on her tiptoes to nuzzle Jane's nose with her own. Their lips flirted for a fleeting second before Maura pulled back for a second. "Then what are you waiting for?" she asked, huskily.

Jane wasted no time in pressing her lips firmly down on the blonde's, the violets falling to their feet as their arms automatically came up to wrap around one another's body, hands burying themselves in hair and moans emanating from mouths as they moved against each other.

 _Maybe_ , Jane thought as she started pushing Maura towards her desk, lifting the shorter woman onto it and stepping in between her legs, _Valentine's Day isn't so bad, after all._

 **I hope you enjoyed that piece and I hope everybody had a great Valentine's Day, whether you exchanged roses or violets or rings. This was a lot of fun to write and I'm psyched that it's finally back. Fingers crossed for canon Rizzles 2k16!**


End file.
